Why in Verona, of course!
And that’s where I was from 30-31 May.
Verona may be famous for many things, such as its Opera House, but most people flock to the city because of its legendary inhabitants, none other than the ill-fated young lovers, Romeo and Juliet. That these two people were the fictitious creations of Shakespeare has not stopped the city from capitalising on their fame. Granted, the play was based on a lot of historical truth, such as the savage family feuding, and there really were Montagu (Montecchi) and Capulet (Capuleti) families.
The Bard never actually stepped foot in Italy, yet many of his plays are set there, such as “The Merchant of Venice”, “Julius Caesar”, and, with particular relevance to this post, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” and “Romeo and Juliet”.
Anyway, the star attraction of Verona is La Casa di Guilietta, otherwise known as Juliet’s House. It is one of the most-visited places in the whole of Italy. This house, dating back to the 12th century, did in fact belong to the Dal Cappello family, so there is some truth in that. However, many changes were made when the house was used as a set in George Cukor’s 1936 film version of the play. Chief amongst those was the addition of the balcony:
As my excellent tour guide pointed out, it shouldn’t be called Juliet’s balcony but rather Juliet’s tomb since it’s actually a sarcophagus which they’ve used! A little-known and unpublicised fact 
. You heard it HERE!
In the courtyard (to the left of the photo above) stands a bronze statue of Juliet. The right breast and arm are very shiny – according to popular myth, rubbing them will bring you luck. Lord knows how THAT myth came about – the statue was only made in the 1960s… But, for a photo’s sake, sometimes ya gotta do the touristy thing. So here’s me feeling Juliet up:
Now don’t I feel a right tit! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! 
The other charming custom they have here is scribbling love graffiti on the walls, and affixing love notes by means of that classy adhesive, chewing gum. This used to be done on the actual walls of the house, but the town council finally managed to stop this and the walls have now been cleaned up. Instead, those with an uncontrollable urge to deface property can now do so to their heart’s content along the passageway leading up to the courtyard:
Little do most of these seekers of immortality realise but the “walls” are actually plasterboards which get removed every few weeks or so with new ones being put up to replace them.
In case the desire ever grabs you, you can in fact write to Juliet, and I do believe she sends replies:
She is also available on email, I kid you not. Write to Juliet at info@julietclub.com. For more information, check out The Juliet Club and read an article on a book that the Club has put together.
Something I tried to do wherever I went in Italy was to find any remnants of a Jewish presence in a particular place. Jews have lived in Italy for many many centuries. But the history of the Jews in Italy has been a very turbulent one, with expulsions, ghettos and the Inquisition. Venice, for example, has the dubious honour of having created the first official ghetto in the early 15th century.
Ghettoes were enforced in most places, especially where the Church held sway. Ghetto walls started coming down with the arrival of Napoleon in the early 1800s, but it was only in 1870 when Italy was finally united as an independent country in its own right that all the ghettoes were finally disbanded. Even though Jews once lived all over the country in numerous towns and cities, nowadays not many remain, only an estimated 30,000 who mainly reside in Rome and Milan.
Usually the only Jewish traces I can find are synagogues. Verona’s Jewish community only numbers around 100 members. But they do have a beautiful shul which I managed to view. The Rabbi working in the office kindly let me in and allowed me to view the shul which is only used occasionally (on the Sabbath and holy days, I think):
Verona is actually a very old city, dating back to at least Roman times. Just outside the historical centre of the city, the ancient Romans built a large amphitheatre in the 1st century CE. In those days it was the site of gladitorial combats, the central area (“harena”) being covered in sand to absorb the blood of gladiators and animals. This pink marble building, imaginatively called the Roman Arena, is the 3rd largest Roman amphitheatre in existence. Its very well-preserved state (minus most of the outer walls) and perfect acoustics have enabled it be transformed into the famous Verona opera house, the Arena, seating about 20,000 people. Rock concerts are also held here:
The Roman Arena overlooks one of the two major piazzas in Verona, Piazza Bra:
Piazza delle Erbe lies at the centre of old (historical) Verona:
Even statues (okay, performance artists) need to take a smoke-break sometimes:
I’ll leave you with a lovely view of Verona from across the river:
Loads more photos can be viewed in my Verona web album. Don’t forget to click on Slideshow.
Wishing you all a great weekend!!!
